Envelope opening machine



1939. E. J. DUMMER E.T AL 2,146,110

ENVELOPE OPENING MACHINE Filed Dec. 24, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 7, 1939 I i'OPE OPENIN GMACBINE 1 N. -Y., a corporation of Net York I? Application December 24;"1936, Serial No. 117,486

2; Claims.

- I Our present invention relates to p'aper feeding and cutting machines and more particularly to envelope cr'mailopening machines of the-"type in run rapidly througli and one OFtheirmarginaI' edges-"neatly -slit t'o-iust rernov the foldwithout" injuring the conte ts; and it has for its object to provide a simplej' eificient and improved ma- "chine of this charaeterthat may be convenientl 1b o r i 'surety ofac'curate performance; h'ients are 'diiected' paiticularly toward.- the prooperated at h-iglfspeed and capacity and yet'with -The improvevision of"apafticu1ar p'resser means ror holding the letter or envelope against its conveyirr'g' "belt mess and bulk?" Tothe Sand othi 'ehds the inand its g'uidin g means at"th'cutting point that will adapt "itself tdletters Having unusual thickventio rr resides in certaiii ir'nproverhents' and com- 1 binations of'parts, all ais' will be hereinafterriiore fully descllbedfthe r'iov'el featu es" b'ir'i'g pointed out in the claims" atthe 'en'd of thiss'pecification.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a-l'ette'i opening machine constructed in accordance with' an'd illustrating one embodiment of our invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan' viewtlieiof g I Fig. 3 is a vertical sec'tioh taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figjl aridyiewed the 'di rection of the arrows; V I Fig. l is a top plan similar to Fi'g. 2 'but With'the bed: plate 'arid casing shell' removed to disclose interior parts; particularly inthe inount-= ing of 'thefeed belt;

Fig. 5 is adetail view' from the front pa-rtly broken away of the adjusting screw oo'nrie'otion for" moving the bed plate;

"Fig. 6 is a detail sectional viewthrough said adjusting screw;

Fig. -7 is anenlarged front-view of theknives and the edgeguide, the intervening parts removed;

' in rear of the" presser'feetwhich anowstne en- .Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail sectional end view of the presser feet as they appear in Fig. 3 but with intervening parts omitted, and

Fig. 9 is a similar enlarged View ofthe 'gate velopes to climb the belto'nly onat' atime; and

velope.

Similar reference -'nuinerals' throughout the several views indicate "the same-parts.

Referring more particularly to the-drawings, I indicates a prererab1y cast base h-having end ""walls I and a; partition-like central framework "2 ris'lng therefrom3 i At the'front is suitably secured a-"cover -'-plate 3 and at the rear a cover "plate l together constitutin acasing within whichthe' interior mechanism is housed. At the "front 'a shelf-like plate 5 constitutes the bed along which the" envelopes are fed and operatedupon. -Rising from the? rear wall of this bedplate at the left end'thereof in Fig-1 is 'a flange 6 constituting a general rear guide walll A-tra'nsversely ex'T; tendingvertical-plate"l has a flange by which it is s'ec'urd to the-"fra'mei at 8 and constitutes 'a' gate ben'ath' which the envelopes are fed.

They are stacked on this left hand or feed end of the bed plate 5 in an inclined pile, the regular: ity of which is established by the guide wall 6 ridthe said 'gate 1. The downward inclination of the-feed of the lower envelope is established by a'shed' fl "secured to the table by a screw 50 f passing therethr'ou-ghand into a lug II on the;- 51 adjacent base end I At the right hand end of the table, the frame 's' provided with 'a' be'aring I 2 in which turns l'iaft 13 having at its rear end a driven pulley litizand flbelt' l-5 by which it is turned from the '---driviri'g pulley l6 of a motor I! mounted on the 'basei Theshaft 13 extendsthrough the frame partition l and atits forward end is a hub 18 gains't th rear side of which is clamped seurely' by a'nut l9 a'"s1itting knife 26; A housing 'zll o'pen 'sufiiciently at the bottom only to admit a. guiding means and-'theenvelopes, covers and protectls this 'knifeg the same being held to the me wall 2 by screws 20 Against the front 2 side of} the'hub issimilarly secured by a nut a grooved pulley- 22. Another grooved idler pulley Z3 is mounted on a stud 24 on the frame partition Z and over the two pulleys passes an endlessfeed belt 25.--' This feed'belt is preferably of r-ubber -"and' circular in cross section. Its upper reach 26 travels in slot 21 on the bed plate 5 an'd projects' just partially above thesame so as to="tak'e" sure-frictionalcontact with an envelope -o'n th'e bedl while the latter is-still maintained in substantially-fiat' condition. Above*tl'i'ebearing I2 is a similar bearing 28 on the frame [containing *astud shaft 29. On the "'oiiter'or' -forward end of this stud is a hub 30 against-'- which there is clamped by a nut 3| an upper companion slitting knife- 32 cooperating P in'the overlappingmanner best shown in Figs. 3 and "7' wit'hthedrive'n knife 20.' The stud 29 is hollow' and contains a spring 33 that reacts aga'inst a plate 34 secured to the end of the bear- --'ing* '-boiby two screws 35; Theknife 32 is thus 55 and claimed in our copending application, Ser.

urged forwardly continuously by the spring against the driven knife 2|] to itself be frictionally driven by the latter.

As best shown in detail in Fig. 7, an extension 36 on the end of the back plate or guide 6 of the bed plate 5 projects toward the knives and has a tapered end 31 that enters between them at their intersection running as closely as possible to the bite or cutting point of the blades. This extension is V-shaped in cross section, as shown also in the other figures, but the bottom at the inside apex is definitely fiat, as indicated at 38, lies in the plane of the guide wall 6 and this plane is sufiiciently back of the cutting plane defined by the contacting surfaces of, the knives to cut off the fold of the envelope edge back the desired distance. The mode of regulating the width of this cut will be later explained. The lower plate 39 of the edge guide inclines downwardly outwardly to contact with the bed plate 5 while its longitudinal projection toward the feed end of themachine is given a compound curve into which the lateral inclination merges, whereby it also inclines downwardly at the receiving end to meet the surface of the bed plate and form a ramp portion 40 up which the envelopes slide to enter the edge guide against the wall 38. The upper plate of the V at the corresponding end has a share portion 4| where. it joins the plate 6 for a. similar purpose.

This V-guide is more particularly described No. 234,833; filed October 13, 1938, which is a ivision hereof. i

its so far described, in operation the undermost letter of a pile squared against the back wall 6 and the gate 1 touches or is urged bythe operator against the belt 25. It is carried under the gate and the frictional hold of the belt thereon causes it to overcome the retarding influence of a spring finger 42 on the far side of the gate having a notch 43 therein (Fig. 9) to accommodate the belt. The finger has a rounded lower edge which, however, arrests the envelope next above until the first one, whose frictional contact might otherwise carry it with it, has passed on. This adjacent one in turn contacts the superior friction of the feed belt and is next fed forward. The latter carries each envelope along the edge guide through the knives which. slit the fold thereof and then passes out at the right end of the machine in openedcondition.

The said retarding finger 42 is mounted on a shaft 44 extending between the securing flange and a front flange 45 of the gate plate I and is pressed downwardly by a spring 46 coiled about such shaft. A lug 41 on the finger carries a stop screw 48 that bears against a lug 49 on the gate to limit the downward thrust of the finger with reference to the belt and to the nature of the mail matter that is passing through.

It is, of course, important that as the envelope enters the knives its edge should be firmly and evenly pressed against the wall 38 of the edge guide so that the fold thereof will be uniformly and evenly sheared off to exactly the desired extent. This is insured by the following provisions: In the first place, the direction of travel of the upper reach 26 of' the belt is not strictly longitudinally of the bed but converges inwardly from pulley 23 to pulley 22. In addition to this,

the axis of pulley 23 is cocked in two planes intersecting the plane of the axis of pulley 22, as clearly appears in Fig. 4, that is, the stud is tilted downwardly and also laterally bringing the pulleys out of line on two angles. The result is that the reach 26 of the belt twists or rotates on its own geometrical axis toward the knives as it passes from the one pulley to the other in the feeding direction, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4. Its frictional effect on the envelope is, therefore, both'to convey it in a straight path and to urge it laterallytoward the knives and againstthe edgeguides 36.

This conveying means is more particularly described and claimed in our cop'ending application, Ser. No. 186,357, filed January 22, 1938,-which is a division-hereof.

At the cutting point, the envelope is held to the knives in one construction by compressor feet 50 and'5l, best shown in Figs. 1, 3, 8 and 10. These are jointly notched at 52 to span the feed beltand are pivoted upon a stud 53 projecting.

from the vertical frame piece 2. The inner foot 50 is provided with a lug 54 engaging beneath the foot 5|. The latter is pressed downwardly by a spring 55 coiled about the stud so that through the lug it also presses down companion foot 50. The latter, however, is providedwith a stop screw 56 engaging a lug 51 on the frame to regulatethe maximum depression of both feet with respect to the belt and the envelope carried thereon. Also, it will be obvious that, while foot 5| may rise independently, the lifting of inner foot 50 raises outer foot 5| with it if the latter is not already above contact with the lug. The purpose of this is best illustrated in Fig. 10. Inner foot 50 rides on the thin edge portion of theenvelope A into which its contents B do not project and cooperates with the guide to present the edge fold squarely *to the knives. Foot 5| rides on the bulgedbody of the envelope exerting enough retarding effect to keep it from slewing around when the resist- 5, the latter is capable of pivoting on the screw I!) at its extreme left or feed end whereby its opposite end may swing toward and from the'knives on that center, thus carrying the edge guide 36 closer to or farther in rear from the cutting plane." The bed plate 5 is provided outside the casing with depending slightly spaced flanges 6|! and 6|. The front flange 66 is notched to take in the groove between collars 62 ona thumb screw 63 threaded into the end frame piece at 64. This tapped hole 64 is counterbored at 65 so that the inner collar may enter and carry the flange close against the frame when the screw is screwed all the way in. By this means the bed is swung forcibly in or out with a fine adjustment depend ing upon the'fineness of the thread. Extending f through a slot (not shown) in the end flange 6| of the bed plate at itsswinging end is a clamping nut 63 that is threaded into the end wall of the frame toclamp the bed in its adjusted position. We recommend that both of these adjusting and clamping thumb screws be made small and fitted very snug so that a correct adjustment once set I by an authorized operator will not be disturbed by idlers thoughtlessly turning the heads.

We claim as our invention:

1. In an envelope opening machine, the combination with a bed plate, a knife arranged angularly thereto, means for feeding envelopes along the bed and an edge guide for the envelopes associated with the knife to direct the edge of an envelope in the cutting plane thereof, of a yielding presser foot adapted to engage the edge portion of the envelope at the cutting point and a companion presser foot adapted to yieldingly engage the body of the envelope.

2. In an envelope opening machine, the combination with a bed plate, a knife arranged angubut having a connection therewith through which 10 it may also be raised thereby.

EDWARD J. DUMMER. AZEL GAY. 

